


Airport Adventures

by Iggysassou



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Airports, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Falling In Love, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Single Dad Tony Stark, steve rogers is a sweetheart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2020-01-07 13:10:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18411314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iggysassou/pseuds/Iggysassou
Summary: Single dad Tony and Steve meet at the airport, fall in love, then find each other again.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [S_Horne](https://archiveofourown.org/users/S_Horne/gifts).



Tony bounced on his feet impatiently as he eyed the long queue ahead of him. 

He had meant to be at the airport three hours in advance, just as Pepper had instructed, but when it had been time to say goodbye to Peter, the little boy had started to cry and Tony couldn’t help it if he had to cuddle his baby boy a little longer before leaving for his four-day trip. It was the first time he was going away for so long since getting Peter. They both needed those cuddles. 

Feeling his heart grow heavy in his chest, Tony forced himself to focus on the present. Peter would be there when he would come home. It was a short trip anyway. 

Sighing, he looked at his phone again, happiness filling his chest at the picture of a toothless Peter grinning up at him, but he winced as a notification reminded him that he only had about thirty minutes to get to his gate.

Right. 

It should be fine.

He just had to go through security and maybe walk a little faster than usual but he should be fine. If only the goddamn line would go faster. Who would have thought there were rush hours at airports anyway? (Pepper. Hence why she had advised him to be so early). 

As if answering his silent pleas, the line finally started moving and it was his turn to place all his belongings in the grey plastic boxes a bored security guard showed him. 

Tony felt a little naked once he stood on the other side of the gate a few minutes later, shoeless, coatless and phoneless, impatiently waiting for his belongings. Looking down at his wrist out of habit, he groaned when he remembered his watch was with the rest of his stuff.

God. This was torture.

People were shuffling around him, in various states of disarray, grabbing bags or suitcases while frantically putting their coats on. It would be funny if he wasn’t as nervous as most of them.

To distract himself from the wait, Tony took a look around him and smiled when his eyes fell on an attractive police officer standing nearby. Two actually, but the blond one caught his eyes. Damn. He had no idea where the police had found him, but he needed all police officers to look like him. The man was built like a god, tall and strong, his uniform clinging to him like a second skin, and those  _eyes_. Even from far away, Tony couldn’t miss how blue they were. Gorgeous. 

A sharp ‘Sir’ pulled him out of his thoughts and Tony jumped, rushing to gather all his belongings despite the crowd around him. 

He tried to be calm and organised but there was little time and too many things to pick up. The suitcase, the computer to put back in its protective case, his wallet, his coat and shoes and passport… In the end, Tony found himself balancing everything precariously in his arms and tumbling out of people’s way while trying to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything in the boxes. 

Ignoring the frenzy around him, he searched for a quiet place to drop everything while he put his clothes back on and brightened up as his eyes found the attractive police officer once again. The man was standing near a bench with his colleague and they were chatting while keeping an attentive eye on the chaos around them. Their eyes met and Tony felt his heart skip a beat as they held gaze before the man hurried to look away, his cheeks a little pink now. 

If he wasn’t so late and a single-dad, Tony might have tried to get his number. Sadly, there was no time for this today. Oh, well. In another life maybe. 

Walking up to them, Tony unceremoniously dropping everything on the bench and started dressing up. He was doing good. Not late at all. He had at least twenty minutes to spare. Nodding to himself, he went over everything in his mind as he patted his pockets. Keys, wallet, computer, phone…

That only left his passport and plane tickets. 

Turning to his suitcase, he froze when he found nothing there. 

Shit. 

He was certain he had put his passport there, right before he had put his belt back on. Feeling panic rising in him, he patted his pockets again as he went over the past two minutes in his mind. He could see himself placing his passport on his suitcase, he remembered thinking to himself that he would never forget it there but then he had been distracted by a large group walking by and- 

_Damn it._

Pepper was going to murder if he had somehow gotten his passport stolen. And to think that he had sat next to Unfairly Attractive police officer just because he had thought it would be-

Tony paused then slowly looked up at the blond man standing next to him, his eyes narrowing. 

There was a beat then the man pulled his hand from behind his back, revealing his passport. 

Tony would have been annoyed if it wasn’t for the adorably bashful smile on the man’s face. 

Instead, he watched in wonder as the blond – Rogers, according to his name tag – looked down at his passport, seemingly gathering some courage before he looked back at Tony with a determined if slightly hesitant expression. 

“Dovresti stare… stare attento al tuo… passaporto. La gente… La gente potrebbe rubarlo.” Rogers stammered, cheeks bright red as he handed the passport to an utterly charmed Tony.  _You should be careful with your passport. People could steal it._

The words were hesitant and the intonation somewhat wrong, not to mention the heavy American accent, but… it was also absolutely adorable. Tony could swear he felt his heart swoon.

He was confused though. There was no reason for the guy to speak Italian, especially if he wasn’t fluent. 

Then he looked down at his passport and had to bite back a laugh as he remembered he was using his Italian passport to travel this time. The guy must have assumed he was another helpless tourist, which was only fair considering how disorganised Tony must have looked. 

Not wanting to shoot down the man’s endearing attempt at speaking another language, Tony decided to roll with it and gave him a genuine smile as he stepped closer to take his passport. “Grazie mille, mio eroe,” he said in a velvety voice.  _Thank you so much, my hero_.

The man blushed furiously, obviously picking up on his tone, and opened his mouth to answer but Tony ignored him as a voice suddenly announced that his gate was closing. 

 _Now_ , he was late. 

Cursing under his breath, Tony grabbed his suitcase and started to run. He managed to get one last look at his handsome police officer, who was still blushing and apparently being teased by his friend, before turning around the corner. 

In another life maybe.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A thousand thanks to my amazing friend for her help in translating into Italian!

“What a charming little boy!”

Tony raised his head from where he was checking flights details on his phone and flashed a smile at the woman cooing over Peter, his heart swelling up with pride because yes, the adorable little baby smiling at everyone was _his_.

Putting his phone in his handbag, he turned to face the woman and gently poked Peter’s belly, making him giggle.

“What do we say, _bambino_?” He prompted his son.

“’Ello!” Peter answered happily, waving his arm alongside.

“I was more thinking of saying ‘thank you’ but this works too, well done, _Tesoro_ ,” Tony smiled, giving him a few more kisses.

“’Ello, ‘ello!” Peter repeated energetically, earning more cooing sounds and laughter.

Securing his hold on the excited little boy bouncing in his arms, Tony stepped through the metal detector and breathed out in relief when nothing went off. Not that he had expected otherwise but he was allowed to be a little nervous today.

This was his first time flying alone with his son and although everything was running along smoothly so far, he couldn’t help but worry. The horrifying online stories of parents travelling with babies combined with his last chaotic passage through airport security had given him a few sleepless night. But Tony had learnt his lesson. He had made sure to keep his mess to a strict minimum. Unlike last time, his watch and phone were stored in the front pocket on his bag, easy to access and safe, and he had comfortable shoes that he had very little chances of being asked to remove. Even Peter's giraffe plushie was safely stored away until they made it through security. 

Hopefully, all his hard work would avoid a repeat of last time. Because as much as Tony would _love_ to see the handsome police officer that had featured in many of his dreams since their very brief encounter, right now, he dreamt of a stress-free trip.  

And so far, Tony was a little proud of himself. Considering he was travelling on his own with his fifteen-month-old baby boy for the first time, he would even say he was doing remarkably well.

“Ah, I’m going to need both my hands for this, Pete,” Tony said as he noticed their trays coming up. Carefully, he put Peter down on the ground, taking his little hand to put it on his pant. “You hold onto daddy’s leg, alright, _Tesoro_? I’m just getting our bags and Mr Giraffe.”

Nodding obediently, Peter grabbed onto his pant tightly, giving him another of his adorable gummy smile before looking around him curiously.

Tony was a lucky dad. Ruffling Peter’s soft hair affectionately, he turned back to the trays with a smile. The one good thing about having a baby was that unlike last time, everyone seemed happy to give Tony time to pack up, including the bored security guards.

He had almost everything in hand when he suddenly realised that he couldn’t feel his son’s little hand holding his leg anymore.

And that’s when it dawned on him.

Despite all his preparation and careful organisation, he had forgotten one tiny little detail.

Peter had recently moved past the walking stage and plummeted right into the running stage. Tony was incredibly proud of him, of course, and he had hours’ worth of recordings to show the entire world about this prowess. However, it also meant that instead of waddling around or holding onto Tony’s leg as he used to, Peter was now eager to explore the world. And he was a _very_ curious kid.

And evidently, the airport had become his new exploration ground because when Tony looked down, Peter was gone.

Forget about misplacing his passport, this was a thousand times worse.

Tony spun around, eyes frantically searching for the little boy in the crowd, panic rapidly rising in him.

For a little thing with such short legs, Peter could run surprisingly fast and there was no way of knowing which direction he had taken. Not to mention that with his size, he could easily squeeze under machines and hide behind pretty much anything.

This was a nightmare.

 _One second_. It had taken less than _one_ second for Tony to lose his son.

Thankfully, destiny seemed to take pity on him because Tony spotted Peter before he could work himself into a full panic attack. The little boy was back on the other side of the security gates, gleefully running back to the entrance and giggling under the eyes of amused voyagers.

“Peter! Come back here!”

Unsurprisingly, that only made Peter giggle harder, thinking this was all a very funny game, and the little boy sped up as much as his little legs would allow.

God.

Tony was _never_ playing ‘catch’ with Peter _ever_ again.

Dropping all his bags, he rushed after the little boy, squeezing back through the metal detector and setting it off. A security guard tried to stop him, saying something about how he was not allowed to do that, but Tony had no time for him, not when his baby boy was _running away_.

And while Peter had the time of his life running under the black string lines, Tony had to run around or crawl under the damn strings, all the while trying to keep an eye on his son.

He could already see the headlines: “Tony Stark loses his son at New York Airport, read more page 3!”. The press would have a field day with this. Not that he cared all that much what they thought but somehow, the thought wouldn’t leave him.

Tony was only a few feet away from Peter when someone finally stepped in and caught the little boy.

“Hey there, little guy!” The man lifted Peter in his arms, adjusting his hold on his own bag as he cradled the boy to his chest. He was smiling brightly, clearly trying to appear as non-threatening as possible despite his size. “Hai fatto spaventare tuo papà.” _You scared your dad_.

Peter looked at the man with wide eyes, obviously wondering why a stranger had stopped him in the middle of his little adventure. Tony fully expected him to start crying but instead, Peter grinned and started bouncing in the man’s arms. It might have been adorable but Tony was far too overwhelmed by relief to really think about what was happening. Crossing the distance between him and the man, he pulled Peter into his arms, all but crushing him into his chest.

“Oh my god, Peter! Don’t you _ever_ do that to me again,” he demanded shakily, covering every inch of his boy’s face with kisses. “Oddio, ero così preoccupato!” _My god, you scared me so much!_

Once he finally stopped feeling like he might shake apart, Tony looked up to thank his saviour but his heart sunk at the man’s light frown. Crap. Did he think he was a bad father? Did he think he was _not_ Peter’s father?

“Ah, sorry. I- that’s my son, Peter,” he explained in a rush. “He is a bit of an adventurer and he recently discovered that running away from me is a very funny game, didn’t you _Tesoro_?” He asked Peter, tickling his stomach and kissing his face some more before looking up at the man again. “Anyway, thank you so much for stopping him, I-“

“Ah, so you do speak English. I feel a little silly now,” the man blurted out, blushing furiously, and Tony stopped to stare at him.

Then it hit him.

It was the attractive police officer from a few months ago. _Officer_ _Rogers_. The man Tony had dreamt about so many times, the guy he had described in great details to Rhodey and Pepper and whoever would listen because he couldn’t get him out of his mind. He was not in uniform so Tony hadn’t recognised him in the midst of his panic but now that he was calming down, he couldn’t stop staring at him. Damn. He was still impossibly attractive. He looked almost like an angel, with his golden hair shining under the light, his bright baby blue eyes and those pink lips…

“Ah, sorry, you probably don’t remember me.” Rogers said sheepishly, pulling Tony out of his thoughts. “Oh boy, this is awkward. Sorry, I-”

“No! I mean, yes!” Tony interrupted, his own face warming up in embarrassment. “I remember you! You’re the attractive police officer who stole my passport and spoke Italian to me. Of course I remember you,” he continued, unable to stop himself. He had imagined meeting Rogers again, many, _many_ times, but he had never thought it would actually happen. Not in those conditions at least. “I’m actually American. I mean, I’m Italian too obviously, I have a passport to prove it and I speak Italian but yes. Hum. Yeah. American. _And_ Italian.”

The man seemed to relax at his nervous rant and laughed, the sound warm and pleasant. Then he ducked his head and offered Tony that bashful little smile that had been in all his dreams since their first encounter. “Ah, that explains it. Sorry, you must’ve thought I was pretty ridiculous.”

“I’d rather go with ‘adorable’,” Tony corrected smoothly, offering the man a smile as he adjusted his hold on Peter. “Very sweet and perfect grammar. But your accent really sold it.”

The man’s blush darkened, spreading down his neck and disappearing under the collar of his shirt. Tony was suddenly filled with the desperate need to know if it spread much farther down. God. He really needed to get laid.

“Ah, gosh, thank you!” Tony was maybe a little in love with this man. “I think I’ve… uh, I’ve improved a little since last time. I practiced for… ah well, I don’t think it matters that much now.”

For _him_? Was that what he had been about to say? The man remembered Tony _and_ he had practiced his Italian _for_ _him_? It was a good thing parenthood had taught him restraint because if Tony had still been his brash younger self and not a single dad, he might have proposed to him right here and then.

“Seems like a shame to let all those efforts go to waste, maybe you could keep practising with me, I’d be happy to give you a few private lessons,” Tony said, barely keeping himself from adding a wink. And okay, that had to be his worst pick-up line since high school but he had a son now. He didn’t exactly go flirting around anymore. It seemed to work though because the other man had brightened up.

“Are you boys planning on getting married at the airport or do you plan on moving along at some point?”

Both Tony and the man jumped at the interruption and they turned to find an elder man looking at them with an amused expression. That’s when Tony remembered all the bags he had dropped on the other side of the gate. For fuck’s sake.

“Damn it- I mean darn it, _don’t_ repeat that, Peter,” he said to the little boy looking up at him curiously then turned back to the other man. “Alright, Hot Police Officer, I have to get my and this little guy’s stuff but I’ll wait for you there because I _am_ getting your number this time!” Tony promised as he made his way through the crowd once more.

"Alright, see you on the other side! And the name's Steve," the man- _Steve_  added with a smile that made Tony's heart flutter in his chest. 

Maybe in this life then.


	3. Chapter 3

“Is papa going to miss the plane?”

“Nah, don’t worry _, bambino_ ,” Tony replied soothingly as dropped a kiss on top of his head. Peter was looking at the security queue with big worried eyes, searching for Steve in the crowd and clinging to his plushie. “You know papa is never late and even if he is, we can always take the next plane.”

Honestly, Tony _was_ a little nervous but he knew Steve would make it to the airport on time. He was already in the car when he had called earlier to warn him about being delayed because he’d had to stop by the flat on his way back from work. Tony would never admit it out loud but he was incredibly grateful for Steve’s habit to always be at the airport _at least_ three hours early, ‘just in case’, because it covered emergencies like those ones.

Tony and Peter had gotten to the airport early enough that they had already made it through security so they were waiting for him. He would be there soon enough, hopefully. Still, Tony couldn’t believe Steve was late because he had ‘misplaced’ his passport. _Misplaced_. Tony snorted. More like ‘I lost my passport but I won’t admit it because I _never_ lose anything’. So much for always being prepared. Tony was totally going to tease Steve as soon as he would be there.

“Papa!”

Tony was pulled out of his thoughts as Peter suddenly perked up in his arms, and sure enough, there was Steve, towering above the crowd. He looked nervous, probably from running to get there in time, but then their eyes met and a bright smile appeared on his face, making Tony’s heart skip a beat as he smiled back at him. Tony would have thought that after three years together, he would have gotten used to that beautiful smile being directed at him, and yet, it never failed to make him melt.

“See, I told you he would be there on time,” Tony said, waving back at Steve before he adjusted his hold on Peter. At four years old, his baby was growing a little too big for him to hold him up for hours but Tony was nothing if stubborn.

—

On the other side of the security check, Steve was a nervous mess.

He was not worried about missing the plane. There was well-over an hour before their plane was supposed to take off and he was already about to cross security check, but running back to the flat had left him a little shaky. He couldn’t afford to mess up their holiday. It meant too much for him.

Moving forward with the line, he took a deep breath to calm down then looked back at Tony and chuckled when Peter waved excitedly as soon as their eyes met, melting his heart a little. God. He really loved this kid. And since it would be another few minutes before he would join them, Steve decided to pass time by engaging in a funny face contest with the little boy, making a few people in the line laugh at their antics.

Then he noticed Tony watching over them with a fond amused look, and Steve all but melted, feeling like his heart was getting too big for his chest. That look, all warm and loving, was all he needed to calm down.

Mechanically grabbing a tray, Steve placed his suitcase and jacket in it before joining the queue to go through the metal detector. He had barely made it through before Peter was jumping in his arms, Tony following close behind with their bags.

“Hey, Pete, sorry I’m late,” Steve said as he caught the boy and hoisted him up in his arms for a tight hug before he turned to Tony, welcoming him for a kiss. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart, I didn’t mean to worry you, I don’t know what happened, I was-”

“ _Tranquillo, amore_ ,” Tony interrupted with a warm smile as he wrapped an arm around his waist and leant up to kiss his cheek, sending pleasant shivers down his spine. _It’s alright, love._

Steve relaxed, leaning into his touch with a smile and kissing him again. He would never get tired of this. Tony speaking in Italian to him. Tony holding him and kissing him so easily while holding Peter between them. He wanted this to be the rest of his life.

“But I hope you are aware that I am never letting you live this down,” Tony added, pulling him out of his thoughts, his beautiful eyes twinkling with amusement. “I can’t believe _you_ lost your passport, _tesoro_. What happened to all your lectures on being ‘prepared’ and ‘organised’?”

“I _am_ organised!” Steve protested with a laugh as he put Peter down to get his tray, pulling his suitcase out first before reaching for his jacket. “Far more organised than you, sweetheart. But I was- I just _misplaced_ something.”

“’Something’? I thought you said you misplaced your _passport_ , beloved? My, my, Steven Grant Rogers, did you lose _two_ things?”

Tony sounded far too delighted in Steve’s opinion but he was far more concerned about not letting anything else slip. He really was not good at keeping secrets.

“No! I didn’t lose anything there was- I just-“

“Papa,” Peter interrupted, tugging on his hand and saving Steve from explaining himself. “You dropped something!”

They both looked down to find Peter holding out a black velvet box in his little hand, smiling up at them proudly.

There was a beat then Steve froze, blood draining from his face while Tony stiffened beside him.

Shit. That little box was supposed to be safely tucked away inside his jacket. It was bad enough that Steve had been late to the airport because he couldn’t find the box in his drawers in the first place but this was ten times worse. And the hall around them had gone quiet, the crowd having realised what might happen very soon.

“Oh my god,” Tony breathed out next to him, his voice trembling a little. “Is that- Steve- is that yours?”

For a brief second, Steve considered straight up lying and saying it was someone else’s but he was a terrible liar and he was pretty sure his expression had already given him away. Time to face the music then. Never let it be said that Steve Rogers could not adapt.

“Thank you, Pete,” Steve said with a nervous smile as he bent down to take the box, ruffling the boy’s hair affectionately before straightening up.

That was really not what he had in mind for his proposal but in a way, it was perfect. After all, Tony and him had met and found each other at the airport security so many years ago. It only seemed fitting that Steve would end up proposing there too. His only regret was that they were surrounded by a curious crowd because he knew how much Tony valued his privacy. There was little he could do about that though.

Fiddling with the box in his hand, Steve desperately tried to remember the speech he had spent hours writing but it was long gone from his mind now. _Alright, let’s do this_ , he told himself as he took a deep breath and looked at Tony, only to feel his heart falter. Tony was looking at him with so much love and _hope_ , mixed with a little hint of fear, it both stole his breath away and gave him the last push he needed to start talking.

“Tony, believe me when I say this is _not_ how I had pictured this to go but, well, kinda fits us, doesn’t it?” He asked with a small nervous smile as he took his hand, earning a wet laugh from the other man. “I had a whole speech prepared too, I’ll- ah, maybe I’ll read it to you later? But ah, never mind that now, just…”

Steve took another deep breath then dropped to his knee, opening the box to reveal the simple gold ring laying inside. “Tony, _amore, mi vuoi sposare_?” _Tony, love, will you marry me?_

“I- I- Steve-“ Tony was clinging to his hand, hopeful but hesitant too. “What about… what about Peter?”

“Well, I was… I was thinking it would make the adoption process easier,” Steve faltered a little, his tone taking a hesitant edge while Tony’s mouth fell open. “I mean, I just- I love you and Peter and you’re always saying how we are a family and Peter is already calling me ‘papa’ so I thought- I thought maybe we could… make it official? I mean, we don’t have to obviously but I love you and-”

“Yes!” Tony blurted out, falling into his arms and kissing him again and again. “Yes, a thousand time yes! Of course, I do! I just- I didn’t think- Of course I want to marry you!“

The crowd erupted in cheers around them but Steve had no care for them.

Tony had said ‘yes’ and his ring was on his finger.

It was all that mattered to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to anyone who read until the end! Sorry for the delay in updating, life was a little hectic. 
> 
> I hope you guys like it :)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, I really hope you liked it and please leave a comment if you did!
> 
> Do let me know if there are mistakes/typos I missed, I tried my best but I'm not a native English speaker so I might have missed a few things! :)


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